The European Union's protection of 39 unique Vietnamese products under a new trade agreement has opened the door for Vietnamese agricultural products. However, to take advantage of this protection under the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), Vietnamese businesses must adhere to the world's most stringent quality standards and change their production methods in a more modern direction.

 Strict standards

According to Mr. Dao The Anh, Deputy Director of Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, successful penetration of protected geographical indicators (GIs) into foreign markets depends on consumer tastes of the import market. . Exported products must, first of all, satisfy the regulations, standards, traceability and other requirements of the importing country. Mr. Le Ngoc Lam, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Intellectual Property Department under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that the EU's regulations and requirements are very strict, especially for items affecting health. people like food. The EU requires agricultural products exported to this market to have GlobalGap and HACCP certificates. Specifically, the GlobalGAP standards require producers to establish an inspection and monitoring system from planting to harvesting and processing. They also mentioned other criteria such as worker welfare and environmental protection. Due to the post-check mechanism of Vietnam's agricultural exports to the EU, products that do not meet the required standards will be returned or destroyed on the spot at the expense of the exporter. This means that both producers and businesses suffer if they do not control the quality of agricultural exports right from the production stage and in the long run this will reduce the value of GIs. Mr. Luong Hoang Thai, Director of Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that in fact, EU GIs in EVFTA such as Bordeaux wine (France), Mozzarella cheese (Italy) and other others are famous. brands around the globe. Meanwhile, typical GIs of Vietnam such as Hai Hau rice or Tan Cuong tea are only known in Vietnam. Ms. Thai said that leveraging the digital transformation, especially the social media trend, will improve the familiarity of EU consumers with these GIs. The EU standards are also a challenging technical barrier for Vietnamese agricultural products, but create positive pressure to shift production methods from focusing on quantity to quality.

According to the majority of businesses, EVFTA has opened the door to tax but has set up many technical barriers in trade and tightened quarantine measures. In addition, it is not easy to fully satisfy the rules of origin to enjoy tariff preferences, especially for agricultural products imported for processing materials. General Director of Vietnam Clean Seafood Joint Stock Company (Vinacleanfood) Vo Van Phuc said: EVFTA is a great opportunity for the Vietnamese seafood industry, but in the current conditions, the full use of opportunities that is extremely difficult. For example, with shrimp exported to the EU, to enjoy a preferential tax rate, one of the important requirements is to have an ASC farm certification (international certification for responsibly farmed seafood, minimize negative impacts on the environment, ecosystems, communities and ensure good labor regulations) - this is a standard that very few businesses can achieve and if any, the area meets the standards not great either. The reason is due to strict conditions from the Aquaculture Management Board on land and water sources and is always subject to the annual unscheduled inspection and examination by this organization. Another difficulty is meeting labor standards, including the requirement not to use child labor. In a certain sense, this rule will also cause many seafood businesses to change their labor structure, especially during the booming harvest season or in urgent times of serving too many due orders. That will lead to labor scarcity and the cost of labor can be pushed up, costing businesses a lot more. In addition, the European Commission (EC) applying "yellow card" to Vietnamese seafood has caused difficulties for the seafood industry in recent years, causing many consignments to be entangled in the paperwork. fishing for raw materials because it does not fully meet the regulations against illegal, non-declarative and non-compliance (IUU) fishing of the EC.

EVFTA Agreement: Coming to export many agricultural products to the EU

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that after the first batch of shrimp was exported to the European Union (EU) under the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the EU (EVFTA), on 16 and 17 / 9 to come. , products such as coffee, passion fruit, pomelo, coconut, dragon fruit will continue to be exported to this market with the incentives that the Agreement brings. Specifically, on September 16, Dong Giao Export Food Joint Stock Company will export passion fruit shipment and Vinh Hiep Company Limited 404 exports coffee; On September 17, VINA T&T Group Company will also export a variety of vegetables and fruits, including pomelo, coconut, and dragon fruit, which are eligible under EVFTA Agreement. The EU is the market consuming the most coffee in Vietnam, accounting for 40% of the total volume and 38% of the total export turnover of the country (average coffee export value to the EU reached 1.2 to 1.4 billion VND). USD / year for the past 5 years). In August 2020, Vietnam's coffee export value to the EU market is estimated at nearly 76 million USD, up 34.7% compared to July 2020, down 0.2% over the same period last year. It is assessed that coffee can add value to the EU market in the coming time when the EU eliminates tariffs on all unroasted or roasted coffee products, from 7-11% to 0%, Processed coffee from 9-12% to 0.%.

39 geographical indications of Vietnam are committed to protect by the EU, including Buon Ma Thuot coffee, which is a huge competitive advantage of the Vietnamese coffee industry with competitors in the EU market. Regarding fresh fruits and vegetables, there are currently about 40 types of vegetables and fruits in Vietnam exported to 60 countries and territories. This has been proven when the export value of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables to the EU market in August was estimated at $ 14.7 million, up 25.2% over the previous month and up 6% over the same period in 2019. The Ministry also hopes that the fruit exporting enterprises will take advantage of the opportunities and advantages in the EU market to continue to improve their technology and develop deeply processed products to best serve the market. this school. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the EVFTA Agreement has created an opportunity for Vietnamese goods to lower costs when exporting to Europe, improving their competitiveness thanks to tax incentives, especially agricultural products. . According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, according to preliminary statistics after more than 1 month, EVFTA took effect and deployed, many export products of Vietnam have had positive changes in the EU market. Preliminary estimates, the value of agricultural, forestry and fishery exports to the EU in August 2020 is US $ 350 million, up 17% compared to July 2020.